9-year-old Nigerian emerges winner of Africa Youth chess championship

Deborah Quickpen , a 9-year-old Bayelsa-born chess prodigy has emerged winner of the just concluded U-10 Africa Youth Chess Championship held in Ghana after defeating her counterpart Tunisia’s Hasnaoui Abrar in her 9th and final game with 8.0 points.

The Nigeria’s youngest gold medallist was crowned champion ahead of nineteen others drawn from other African nations in the competition.

Little Miss Quickpen has now made history as the youngest female chess player to bag a WOMAN CANDIDATE MASTER title, after her feat.

The multiple medalist was among the two Nigerians selected to participate in the competition, alongside others from Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa.

Recall that Deborah was ranked seventh in Africa, and first in West Africa after the Chess Championship in Namibia in 2019.

The African Junior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament open to players in Africa who are under 20 years of age. The tournament was first held in 1980, and since its second edition in 1989, has been held annually with the exception of 2010. Beginning in 2002, a separate championship for girls has been held concurrently with the open championship